Following its English-language debut in 2011, Slow Wine, the guide to Italian wineries approved as good, clean and fair by Slow Food, is premiering a new and updated 2014 edition. The guide and a selection of its wineries will be the focus of events for trade and consumers during a tour of three US cities: San Francisco on January 27, Chicago on January 29 and New York on February 3.

The Slow Wine guide, published by Slow Food Editore and distributed in the U.S. by Chelsea Green, adopts a new approach to wine criticism and looks at a variety of factors to evaluate wineries in their entirety, taking into consideration the wine quality, typicity and adherence to terroir, value for money, environmental sensitivity and ecologically sustainable viticultural practices. Slow Wine was conceived to give a realistic snapshot of the current Italian wine landscape. The guide features reviews of 400 different wineries, each one visited by Slow Food experts. “With Slow Wine we have changed the way of reviewing wine,” added Fabio Giavedoni, editor of Slow Wine.

Three symbols are used in the guide to evaluate each winery: • €The Snail, the Slow Food symbol, signals a cellar that has distinguished itself through its interpretation of sensorial, territorial, environmental and personal values in harmony with the Slow Food philosophy. • €The Bottle, allocated to cellars that show a consistently high quality throughout their range of wines. • €The Coin, an indicator of great value.

For those looking for access to the Slow Wine ratings at their fingertips: The Slow Wine 2014 app is available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The app contains all contents of the paperback with the addition of new features that allow users to navigate and share information on the vast Italian heritage of people, vineyards and wines easily. The app also allows users to find their closest carrier of the wines, take photos and rate them and share with their network on Facebook in the US and the ability to find nearby wineries when traveling through Italy.

The Slow Wine editing team is also planning the release of a bimonthly newsletter sold by subscription and dedicated to the English-, German- and Italian speaking markets. The digital magazine will be produced by a collaboration of over 200 contributors, as well as the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo. The newsletter’s main objective is to offer readers a profound insight into the world of Italian wine, the world’s largest wine producing country, inspired by the cornerstone values of Slow Food: environmental sustainability, adherence to terroir, craftsmanship and quality-price ratio.